In July the Oilers pulled the trigger on a deal that sent away former 10th Overall pick Magnus Paajarvi and a 2nd rounder from the 2014 Draft. They were putting an end to the “Wait and See” era of drafting and hoping for the best but doing very little else to solidify their team. What they received in return was David Perron.
Perron was getting a bit of a reputation in St Louis. He supposedly clashed sometimes with the coach and there were suggestions that
he was a puck hog, a poor teammate, and a malcontent. No doubt he is a different kind of player and person than perhaps best fit with the buttoned down approach of the Blues, but perhaps the criticisms were just a little overblown.
He has been described as a bit of a “Free Spirit” off the ice, but on it I would struggle to call him a “Free Spirit”. Things I might call him when he’s on the ice? A pest, a shift-disturber, a nuisance, a jerk, and probably an @$$hole. And I mean all of those things in the best way possible. That is EXACTLY what the Oilers have been missing in their top 6 for a long time. Nobody has hated playing the Oilers for years. One, they’ve been an easy 2 points since before the Tambellini Era. Two, they played like a group of choir boys.
The only Oiler doing anything post-whistle for the last several years has been Smid, and that’s only in front of his own goalie because, let’s be honest, he only skates by the opposition net in warmup. In 9 games I’ve seen David Perron bump into the goalie for no good reason more times than any Oiler forward in the past 6 years combined. On Saturday he made friends with a few Ottawa Senators after making sure Lehner tasted some snow after he had routinely stopped the puck.
He embellishes, he takes cheap shots, he takes as many liberties with the goalie as the other team will let him, and he can score too. In the same game you can see him attempt a one-leg takedown in a scrum (I know I’m not the only one that saw it) and make an incredible individual move that draws a penalty. Many Oiler observers bemoan the fact that so many of their forwards are alike, too much of the same skillset and style. Well David Perron doesn’t fit that narrative. He stands out among the Oilers skilled forwards. He isn’t a hulking player by any means, just 6 feet tall and a hair under 200lbs, but on skates he plays much bigger, especially in front of the net after the whistle blows.
The Oilers were banking that this player would fit better in Edmonton than he did with the Blues. The Oil saw an opportunity to take advantage of the Blues’ desire to shed payroll and jumped all over it. Now, looking back just 9 games later, it’s hard not to think the Oilers won this trade by a landslide. Perron has 6 points and plays 20 minutes a night, Magnus Paajarvi has played almost 20 minutes total and has registered just a single shot on net. If that doesn't qualify as a "Steal" then I don't know what would.
I still believe that Paajarvi has a long NHL future ahead of him, but the Oilers are better today for making that trade. Perron’s offense has been nice, but the real win for the club comes from his style of play. He is so different from what they had before. The Oilers have needed someone in their top 6 that the other team hated to play against since Bill Guerin left the team. And Perron isn’t going to scare defenders with a thunderous hit, he’s going to drive them insane by playing keep away with the puck and drawing a penalty that he probably embellished on. He’s going to make goalies crazy by occupying their space or outright knocking into them.
The Oilers needed someone who could play with an edge and sometimes cross the line. They found him in David Perron. If he keeps playing this way I bet there will be a lot of Oilers fans asking for #57 sweaters from Santa Claus this year.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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